Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to transacting commerce over a network, and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for processing information related to such commercial transactions.
Description of the Related Art
Historically, information regarding commercially available products has been disseminated using various types of well-known media, including print, radio, television and the like. The operation of such media has been patently obvious, and its use self-evident. With the advent of the Internet, a wide array of product information has become even more accessible to the average person.
Entities providing such product information have been assisted in their endeavor by networking and client/server technology that has become available in approximately the last ten to fifteen years. Such client/server arrangements typically allow a number of users employing client terminals to communicate with a remote server computer in order to transfer information therebetween. This information may include text, data in any one of a number of formats, graphical information, streaming audio and video, and other such information. To facilitate such transfers, client terminals can employ a “web” browser that provides access to a server via a graphical user interface (GUI). The server responds to requests from the client by providing information in the form of a “web page.” One popular collection of servers uses Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) to provide information. This assemblage is known as the “World Wide Web” (WWW). A collection of related web pages is often referred to as a “website,” or more simply a “site.” The information is typically presented as web pages written as text with standardized formatting and control symbols known as Hypertext Mark-up Language (HTML). HTML provides basic hypertext document formatting and allows a server to specify “links” to other servers and files. Use of an HTML-compliant browser involves specification of a link via a Uniform Resource Locator (URL). Upon such specification, the user's client terminal makes a TCP/IP request to the server identified in the link and receives an HTML file that is interpreted by the browser so that an electronic HTML document made up of one or more web pages may be displayed on the client's terminal.
Unfortunately, however, the use of such functionality for the selection and purchase of products is less than ideal. This is especially true in the case where comparable products exist. Especially when faced with a large number of comparable products, it is natural for a consumer to want to compare such products (e.g., in side-by-side fashion), in order to better understand the differences between the products, and the advantages of each. Moreover, when making such comparisons, and when employing web-based technology in general, reducing the need for user interaction can improve a website's ability to handle increased traffic, and ultimately, the consumer's buying experience.